


Come Home to Me

by CoffeeStars



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Jack surprises Bitty, M/M, Nursey Patrol is everything, One Shot, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Nurseydex, Winter Screw, because he's a dork, feel good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeStars/pseuds/CoffeeStars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dex can never get out of Nursey Patrol, and Bitty's boyfriend can't make it to Samwell even for one lousy dance. It's business as usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Home to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on nomorelonelydays on tumblr, along with shorter works not on ao3! :)

“Isn’t going stag to Winter Screw a thing?” Dex asks. “Like in high school prom or whatever.”  
  
“But it’s not high school prom,” Nursey says. “You can’t screw if you’re going stag. Or I mean technically you can, but that’s called mas—”  
  
“Nursey, you disgust—”  
  
“Alright, enough,” Bitty interjects. “There’s nothing wrong with going by yourself.”  
  
“But it’s never been done before,” Holster wails from the computer screen. In the other Skype window, Ransom also looks somewhat distressed. “Bitty, we may have graduated, but we will find you a date. Even if our mortal bodies are not at Samwell, the power of Google spreadsheets transcend physical limitations.”  

“Wait, Bitty,” Chowder cuts in, “didn’t you say you had a boyfriend? Since Samwell lets you bring one guest, Dex, Nursey, and I can pull in Ransom, Holster, and Lardo, and I think Tango says he can pull in Shitty—”  
  
“What about Jack?” Dex says.  
  
“I think he’s busy or something,” Nursey says. “The NHL cares not for Winter Screw, I’m afraid.”  
  
“Bitty has a _boyfriend_?” Holster all but shrieks. “Bitty, why didn’t you _tell_ us?”  
  
“Dude,” Ransom says, “did you not know?”  
  
“It’s okay,” Bitty says quickly. “He doesn’t mind. Besides, I told him already that I’m using my guest pass to pull in Holster, so—”  
  
“I can’t stand in the way of true love,” Holster begins, but Bitty shushes him.  
  
“Don’t worry,” he says, with a tone that suggests a close to further discussions. “He can’t make it.”

* * *

“I love you so much, Dex,” Nursey slurs, as they slowly walk back to the Haus. “I love you, I love you, I love—”  
  
“Stop talking, you’re spitting on me,” Dex says irritably, as he readjusts Nursey’s arm that is currently slung over his shoulder. He then mutters to himself, “Why am I on Nursey Patrol for Winter Screw? Shouldn’t the taddies do this?”  
  
“Because I love you, so, so much,” Nursey sings. “Also you lost the lottery.”  
  
“It was _completely rigged_ ,” Dex fumes. “Picking a number between 1 and 10 is a biased method, especially when Shitty’s the one conducting it.”  
  
“Should’ve done it before Shitty hit the tub juice,” Nursey agrees. “I don’t think he remembered the right number.”  
  
Dex thinks that frat row, devoid of all inhabitants besides a couple of drunken stragglers due to Winter Screw, is actually a nice-ish college street. He’s about to cross the street when he sees the dim porch lights of the Haus from afar. As he reaches in his pockets for the keys, he notices someone sitting on the steps.  
  
“Is that—is that Bitty?” he asks, squinting.   
  
“Your face is a map of stars,” Nursey croons. “You’re so beautiful that I want to puke.” He considers this, then decides, “I want to puke.”  
  
“Oh God, not on the sidewalk.” Dex maneuvers him to the nearest lawn. “Ooh, wait a minute, this is the lax house—wait, Nursey—”   
  
Thankfully, Nursey only dry-heaves for a few moments, before he says, “I’m okay. Thanks, Dex,” in this small, contained voice. Dex rubs his back and stares at the Haus again.  
  
“That _is_ Bitty,” Dex murmurs.   
  
And it is, all dressed up in his suit, looking sharp and handsome and not at all in a drunken stupor, but still sitting on the porch hunched over. He’s on the phone, Dex realizes. Giving small whispers and breathy laughs, as if he’s afraid to be overheard.  
  
“Can I have some water?” Nursey says.  
  
“Oh, right. Come on, put your arms around me.”  
  
“Yay,” Dex hears Nursey cheer faintly. “My favorite thing.”  
  
Dex ignores that last comment as they straggle slowly across the street, stopping every once in a while upon Nursey’s request. The closer they get to the Haus, guided by the few lamplights that do little to brighten up the street, the more clearly they can hear Bitty.  
  
“—no, sweetheart, it’s fine, don’t even worry about it…no, you shouldn’t have to come down for such a silly thing…”  
  
 _Oh crap_ , Dex realizes. _Bitty’s talking to his boyfriend._  
  
“We can’t go.” Dex stops moving. Nursey’s head lolls upward for a bit. “We have to wait him out.”  
  
“Why?” Nursey mutters.  
  
“He’s on the phone with his boyfriend.”  
  
“So?”  
  
“So?” Dex parrots, shifting Nursey’s arms to put space between them, but Nursey’s head rolls back into the crook of Dex’s neck, his breath hot. “ _So_ we give him privacy, which is something you probably don’t understand.”  
  
“ _Super secret boyfriend_ ,” Nursey crows, as Dex shushes him frantically. “Secret super secret—”  
  
“ _SHHH._ ”  
  
“I don’t care about Winter Screw, I’m not—look, I went for a little bit, it was fun, but, um…” Bitty sounds pained, before quickly changing the subject and adopting a forced, light-hearted tone. “Our seniors all came back! Well, technically I’m the senior now, but I mean Ransom, Holster, and Lardo. Oh, and even Shitty made it! Caitlin and Chowder were so adorable, I just wish you could’ve been—I mean.” Bitty stammers on, “I know you can’t, you have to get up early tomorrow, Providence _is_ such a long drive…”  
  
 _Providence?  
  
_ Bitty is silent for a very long moment, and between telling Nursey to be quiet and making sure he doesn’t have another barf episode, Dex misses a few words.   
  
“…it’s your bedtime now, isn’t it?” Bitty is saying, then sniffs. “Old man like you, can’t keep up with the rest of us. When does the charity dinner end?”  
  
“I think Bitty’s a sugar baby,” Nursey says into Dex’s neck, half-asleep. “He likes rich old guys. That’s how he gets money for his _pies_. It’s a conspiracy.”  
  
“It comes from the fines and you know it, Nurse. And at this point it’s mostly Chowder’s money in there.”  
  
“I can’t wait until I’m there,” Bitty sighs. He perks up and scolds, “I hope you haven’t ruined my kitchen—yes, _my_ , you said it was mine…see if I ever cook for you again. You can eat chicken tenders and PB&J for the rest of your life…yeah, I’m on the porch, I told you, I came back early…” Bitty stops. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘look u—’”  
  
Dex hears a gasp, then a watery sniff.  
  
“Oh my God,” Bitty whispers. “Oh my God.”  
  
“Hi, Bits.”  
  
Dex is about to comment on how the voice sounds ridiculously familiar when he sees Jack Zimmermann, in a suit and an actual bowtie, appear on the sidewalk in front of the Haus, holding a bouquet of roses. He’s panting a little bit like he’d ran.  
  
No one says anything for a good while. Jack scratches the back of his neck.  
  
“I, uh, parked near the weird tree. So I had to run.” He shuffles his feet and gestures to the flowers. “Good thing the Stop & Shop was still open.”  
  
Bitty finds his voice, “The racist one?”  
  
“No. Murder.”  
  
Bitty’s clutching his phone to his chest, and his laugh comes out wet.   
  
“But what about the charity event?” he presses.   
  
Jack seems to be stifling a smile.  
  
“George said she’d cover for me,” he says. “So I left early, like you.”    
  
Bitty just covers his mouth as he walks slowly into Jack’s outstretched arms.  
  
“H-how are you here?” he finally sobs, grabbing Jack’s shoulders like he can’t believe Jack is corporeal. “How did you—Jack, oh my God, oh my God.”  
  
Dex watches Jack bury his face in Bitty’s hair, pressing a kiss there.   
  
“I love you, Bits,” he murmurs. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t take you to Winter Screw.”  
  
“Honey, I don’t care about any of that,” Bitty cries softly. “Jack, _Jack._ ”  
  
They go inside the Haus, and Dex, still in tow with a drunk Nursey, watches Jack open the front door like he’s never left. He wraps his arm around Bitty, staggering in side by side, in sync and in love.   
  
“Come on, Nurse,” he says after a few moments, as Nursey sighs his agreement. “Let’s go home.”


End file.
